About the sector

Giving to the community

The recycling operations of Australian registered charities (charitable recyclers and their opshops) exist to raise funds for their community support programs through the collection, sorting and sale of donated clothing and goods. They operate thousands of op shops across Australia, providing the community with access to low-cost and collectable clothing and household items. They also provide much needed clothing and household goods for emergency relief for those in hard times. Examples of community services supported by charity recycling operations

Recycling
Through the efforts of Australia’s charitable recycling organisations, every year some two billion items (over 300,000 tonnes) of clothing and household items are diverted from landfill.

Some 70,000 volunteers give countless hours to charity op shops believing in their value to the community. Many young people in retail gain invaluable job skills through volunteering with charity op shops. Meet some of the volunteers here …

Employment

The operations of charity op shops provide important and valued employment opportunities for clients (disability employment opportunities) and staff.

Professional

Charity recyclers range from small, local community organisations through to large national charities whose brands are household names.

They are highly professional organisations. Regional, state-wide and national charitable recyclers in particular have made significant investment in infrastructure to maximise the efficacy and efficiency of their operations.

NACRO members commit to a Code of Practice for the management of their charity donation bins.